Lindsay Graham

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From Audible Originals, this is the fourth and final episode of our series on the 1900 Galveston Hurricane.

American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship.

This episode was produced by Polly Stryker, senior producers Alida Rozanski and Andy Beckerman, managing producer Desi Blaylock, music by Thrum, sound design by Molly Bach, executive producer for Audible, Jenny Lauer Beckman, head of creative development at Audible, Kate Navin,

Head of Audible Originals North America, Marshall Louis.

Chief Content Officer, Rachel Chiazza.

Copyright 2026 by Audible Originals, LLC.

Sound recording copyright 2026 by Audible Originals, LLC.

From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers.

Our history, your story.

In the first half of the 20th century, terrified parents across America braced for the arrival of summer, the start of polio season.

At the time, the illness was poorly understood, and the nation was desperate to find a way to protect against the so-called infantile paralysis.

While most people who became ill recovered, photographs of children in leg braces, using crutches, or confined to iron lungs sent waves of fear through communities across the country.

But in the early 1950s, two scientists came to define the race to develop a vaccine against polio.

Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin.

And if you ask people today who developed the polio vaccine, most will say Jonas Salk.

But Sabin created a vaccine too, one that proved crucial, though his name never earned the same recognition.